Messages

Rortega46, what is your hull number?  My Year 2000, #1476 boat has the compass mounted on the bulkhead forward of the holding tank.  Make sure you are not storing any ferric metals or magnetics (speakers) nearby.  We installed a rudder sensor which made a big improvement, but the autohelm will always be a little "wonky".  I also dialed down the sensitivity in the control set up.  I'll upload a photo of our sensor installation later on.

Kim and I will be at the Boat Show on Friday.  We will be dropping in on the Latitude 38 and Pac Cup after parties (along with a couple hundred of our closest friends  ).  Is Farallone doing an event this year?  Anybody from the factory coming out?

I am looking for the builder of the "factory" Biminis for the C34 and C36 MkII boats.  I like their "fold up" feature and the zip over cover.  I would rather buy one of these standard pattern ones than go the custom route.

All I did was file down the stainless steel backing plate enough so that the plastic cam cleat over lapped it on the coaming side.  I found that the plastic was soft enough to not mar the gelcote.  But I do tend to pull straight back on the control line instead of towards the coaming.  There isn't a whole lot of tension on the control line even in our San Francisco breezes.

Jim,
I have also toyed with the same idea off and on over the years as I would have liked to run a 110 or blade with a lower foot.  The diamond non-skid can be sanded smooth for mounting and the diamonds aren't high enough to interfere with the fairlead car.  The standard shipping length for T-track is 10 feet (I think it is up to 20' for OEMs).  You can run the T-track straight but that would defeat the clew being at the shrouds for maximum pointing ability. And I'm not sure you could bend the track to meet the shrouds without either buckling it or binding a sliding fairlead car.  Roc's arrow is at about the "powered up" position for our 130.  We usually run ours a little further aft (at the 5 ½ spot on our fairlead numbering system).

Any recommendations on how to fill a divot, dimple or gouge before you refinish?

Mick, I like your approach.  Where did you get the switch?  Do you know if they sell a three position version?  I was thinking on installing the West marine bi-color rail light.  Also, what were you using as a conduit?

I have been struggling with adding additional lighting in my MkII boat.  Has anyone put in red/white task lighting over the  stove and if so, how have you tapped into the house lights circuit?  In regards to the sink light – is it at counter height or below the doors?  I would love to install a red/white LED chart light but they are freakishly expensive.  I too want to illuminate the companionway step area but I like to unscrew the front cover when I service the engine.  I would also like to add a switched set of lights in the engine compartment like the 42's have and am thinking of tapping into the circuit that feeds the head light.  Does anyone know where those wires are routed?

Thanks for the pointers.  This weekend I will go to Pagano's on Lincoln and visit their "hall of fasteners".  (If you don't hear from me by Tuesday, send out a search party ).  On the MkII boats, What is the diameter of the limber hole between the v-berth and first bilge compartment?  Stu, will you be at your boat this weekend?  I'd like to pick your brain on a couple of items.  Perhaps we can meet at EYC Saturday afternoon and I can buy you a beer?  The Master Mariners will be in so there will be lots of wooden boats at the docks.

Does anyone know the size of the O-rings on the Raymarine ST60 speed transducer "bung"?  My O-rings somehow came off and I have nothing to measure.  I am also thinking about replacing the larger diameter ring that is higher up on both the bung and transducer. From my internet search, I only found a paddlewheel rebuild kit from Binnacle.com ($36.95)

On a related note:  On the MkII boats, is there supposed to be a weep hole from under the v-berth to the bilge?  Normally this is not a problem as it is easy to sponge up water leftover from swapping the transducer.  But now, with my O-ring problem, the water is in danger of flowing over the cabin sole on its way to the bilge.

Kim and I are greatly saddened upon hearing of Bill Eddy's passing.  Bill was one of the pillars of Fleet 1 for years and it was through his efforts and others during those formative years that made Fleet 1 racing and the International organization in general as strong as they are today.  Bill was a yachtsman, dock neighbor, mentor and friend.  He was very encouraging and helpful to new racers knowing that they could become future potential rivals.  He was that generous.

I loved both competing against him and also crewing for him.  After racing, Bill would often invite us over to Casino "to share a horn" and over libations, we would trade thoughts and ideas on boat handling and tactics.  He was a true sportsman.  During one particular race we were converging with Bill at the windward mark.  Freya had the inside lane but I didn't think I had overlap and was fully expecting to turn wide when Casino made her rounding.  Instead, Bill motioned for us to take the inside lane and our two boats wheeled around the mark in formation while Bill and I exchanged pleasantries.  It was a real "Grey Poupon" moment.  However, Bill was no pushover either as the various bits of battle damage that Casino acquired over the years could attest.

Bill did a lot of sailing during his retirement.  I've lost count of the number of Baja Ha Ha's and returns he did over the past few years.  Bill was also a crew on the only C34 to race in the Pacific Cup back in the 1990's.

Bill will be greatly missed, but wherever sailors gather in Valhalla after a hard day's racing, I know Bill will be there in the middle of it, quaffing a horn, toasting his fellow skippers and swapping sea stories and other tales well into the wee hours.

I am currently in the process of ordering a set of 15X9 blades from Flex-o-fold.  Ordering from their website puts you in direct contact with their headquarters in Denmark.  Keld Willberg informed me that they no longer honor the C34 owner's discount.  Your best bet in the future is to order them during a boat show.  Three blades are $940 including delivery or a little under half the price of a complete set including hub.

I had the opportunity to sail a 355 for an afternoon on San Francisco Bay earlier this summer and left with very favorable impressions.  We motored out of the Estuary and hoisted (or is it "pulled out" now?) sail near the Ferry Building.  We sailed almost to Harding Rock making several tacks, gybed, sailed a beam reach for a "speed run" then returned to Alameda via the backside of Treasure Island.  Speeds were taken off a hand held GPS.  Apparent winds peaked out in the low twenties, not nuclear, but typical for early afternoon here.  Tide was in flood so the Bay chop was fairly "flat".

I didn't notice the engine's apparent small size at all as it pushed the boat into the flood in the mid six knot range.  Boat tracks well under power.  The sails were a 110 jib and a main with vertical battens.  I understand that Catalina no longer has their in-house sail loft so sails can be custom ordered.  Hoisting was easy and I found the main easier to set and trim for speed than what I experienced on the roller mains on C34s.  The primary winches are set back close to the helm (where the secondary's usually are).  This made it a snap to do single handed tacks and trim adjustments, but I think it would get a little crowded in a full crewed situation.  Helming was a delight, it was very easy to put the boat in trim and sail with a balanced helm.  Traveler controls were at the edge of the coach roof and easily accessible from anywhere in the cockpit.  You could "power up" or flatten the boat down at will with just minor traveler adjustments.  We had no problem gybing.  The boat peaked out in the low eight knot range (GPS) which would put us at or near hull speed during our "speed run".  The boat has much higher freeboard than the 34's or 36's and I was unable to bury the toe rail (which I did on my 34's test sail).  The boat is very dry even without a dodger.  This 355 was not equipped with a kite so I wasn't able to try out the (optional) bow sprit.

I thought that the 355 was a nice sailing boat. It is a Catalina and heavy so it's performance drops off dramatically under 10kts apparent.  But, in teens to low twenties, a delight.  I especially liked the cockpit ergonomics.  Gerry has flatten out the coamings near the helm making comfortable seating positions for the helmsman.  I really, really liked this feature.  The 355 has a much heavier feel than the 34 (akin to the 36).  But being able to sit "high and dry" would be less fatiguing for the helmsman on longer passages.  I have to confess, at first, I did not like the direction Gerry was taking on the 350 design, but lately I've been rethinking my bias.  I have had the opportunity to race against a 350 on several DH Lightbucket and Farallone races and they are not the pigs I once thought they were.  The 34's and 36's are still a lot faster on the open ocean,  but, for someone looking for a couples or family cruiser, this boat would really fit the bill nicely in my opinion.

Yes, I guess that I am talking about three types of "voids".  Although I would really consider the one between molds more of a "gap".  That "gap" is very common in the industry as the builder is mating the rough sides of two moldings together.  The gap you describe has no practical impact on the strength or integrity of the hull or deck.  Stu has a good point.  A leak down into a "gap" ideally will eventually find it's way down into the bilge.  However it could also pool up behind an obstruction.  So therefore all leaks should be considered "bad".  Most boat builders do not put in solid resin everywhere they expect to drill a through bolt hole nor do they always "line" their holes.  They rely on the calking process to keep water from intruding into the core.  Like you, we plan on keeping Freya for a long time and we want a more permanent line of defense against water intrusion so we fill those voids and "line" the bolt holes as we come across them.  I used wood penetrating epoxy in my void in the wood because I wanted good penetration.  This type of epoxy while being "spendy" is also very thin and will migrate a fair distance via capillary action, before setting up.  If you can put a fish through your void opening, you could easily put down a hundred dollars of wood penetrating epoxy and still not seal the gap.  That is why you want something more viscous.  On the opening you describe, you will be able to get the thicker stuff to penetrate far enough into the void and still make a good seal.


My two forepeak pad eyes serve multiple purposes.  They are attachment points for my jacklines and also are used for my A-kite's tack line and eventually, for a spinnaker foreguy.  They can also be used to lash down the dink if necessary.

"Voids" can happen in two ways.  First, air bubbles in the resin are not completely worked out during the vacuum bagging process and second, gaps in the plywood's sandwiched layers.  You should fill these with epoxy as you do not water intrusion into the plywood (or balsa!) core.  It is good practice to "line" all through bolt holes that go through core to protect against water intrusion.  IMHO, caulk alone isn't sufficient.  What you may have found when you did your tape snaking was the gap between the headliner (or one of the interior mold "plugs") and the deck mold.  The deck mold has about 1" of wood coring.  Are you snaking in that region?  A gap between the molds isn't as critical to fill as the cored deck is still protected by Its laminated layers.  A leak will just flow down between the two molds.


I discovered a "void" of the second type while drilling for some pad eyes on my foredeck and I must have poured down a cup of wood-penetrating epoxy into one 3/8 inch hole.  If your void is bigger, I would suggest using something thicker.  The resin syringes sold at West are perfect for filing through-bolt holes.  Masking tape over the bottom of the hole is sufficient to keep the epoxy where you want it.


Catalina does a pretty good job in having solid resin in areas where leaking is most likely to occur (like the shroud chain plates).  However, "normal" bolt holes are not lined.  Nor is the feed-thru hole for the Edson pedestal guard.  I found out the hard way that I had a leak in the calking in the joint between the metal tube and the socket.  Make sure you have some calk there!